I’m serving on the 2011 jury for SFWA’s Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy, which is able to add up to three books to the award ballot, to ensure a broad selection of the best in the genre. We are actively reading eligible works published in 2011, and welcome authors and publishers to recommend or submit (in print or electronic formats) noteworthy YA books. Nominations from SFWA membership and the Norton Jury will be announced in February and the award will be presented at the Nebula Awards on May 19, 2012 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, Virginia.

The Jury is keenly interested in reviewing works that may not have received a lot of attention, books from small presses, graphic novels, and books that were not published as YA (such as middle grade) but could have been.

Feel free to recommend books to me in this post’s comments, or e-mail me directly at emyers+norton -at- gmail.com to make recommendations privately and/or discuss submissions for consideration. You can also contact the entire jury at nortonjury@sfwa.org. Thank you!

The Andre Norton Award for an outstanding young adult science fiction or fantasy book was established in 2006 by Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America. The award is named in honor of the late Andre Norton, a SFWA Grand Master and author of more than 100 novels, many of them for young adult readers. Norton’s work has influenced generations of young people, creating new fans of the fantasy and science fiction genres and setting the standard for excellence in fantasy writing. Any book published as a young adult science fiction/fantasy novel is eligible, including graphic novels with no limit on word length.

“The Jury is keenly interested in reviewing works that may not have received a lot of attention, books from small presses, graphic novels, and books that were not published as YA (such as middle grade) but could have been.”

Well, not to toot my own horn but The Birth of the Dread Remora is essentially YA–it’s ultimately about a young man trying to find his way in the world and his path in life, though mixed with action and adventure, of course. And I think it’s pretty good. :)

I nominate Fury of the Phoenix, by Cindy Pon. Just like I said I would. :) As fantastic as her debut novel was last year, this sequel is even better on all fronts. And for me, personally, it was a nice change to read a non-Caucasian inspired female protagonist adventuring in a non-Western setting. Refreshing!